Good Enough for God?

Are you ready for a refreshingly different approach? The Good News honestly faces human faults. It shows that none of us is “good enough” to live with God. Our imperfections are the opposite of His perfection. Our weakness is the opposite of His strength. Our sins are the opposite of His goodness and holiness. We are in no condition to take ourselves to happiness, let alone to heaven.

… as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God. All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one. (Romans 3:10-12).

… for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).

Would you agree? We all—religious and irreligious, respected and disgraced— we all need help. For purposeful living, we need the Creator who made us for a purpose. And if we cannot climb up to God, then we need for God to reach down to us.

Deep Mystery

The Good News is that God, in His amazing mercy, did this very thing! He came from heaven to earth in the form of “the Son,” also called “the Word.” John, an eyewitness of Jesus, began his account of the Good News in this way:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God…. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:1,14).

Here is the deepest of all mysteries: God became flesh. John did not try to explain it. He simply stated the mystery as God revealed it. John also shared what he himself saw and experienced of Jesus. As a fisherman, John was living an ordinary life, much like yours and mine. Then God’s story broke into John’s story. Jesus brought the Father’s gifts of “grace” (kindness) and “truth” (the ultimate reality).

You might think that Jesus, as King, would be born into royal splendor. Instead, He came into a poor family. He was born in a place for farm animals. Their feeding trough was His first bed. His first visitors were rough men of the fields.

And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord“ (Luke 2:8-11).

“Christ the Lord” refers to kingly authority. “Savior” shows His mission. God’s angel had said,

“You are to give Him the name Jesus [Joshua in Hebrew] because He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).

We do not need another ladder to climb. We need a Savior to reach us and lift us up. We need Good News to tell a better story for us, not in our feeble strength, but in His greater power. Here, then, is the heart of the Good News: Jesus is the arrow that flies downward, coming into our world.